Sunita Williams Returns Home After Four Months in Space

Indian-American astronaut, Sunita Williams returns home after spending four months in space along with her fellow cosmonaut Aki Hoshide. A warm reception is in the offing for record-setting Sunita.

"We are happy and thankful to Lord for her successful Mission. We are so very thankful to everyone in India for their encouragement and prayers for their daughter Suni," said Williams's father Deepak Pandya.

"We will meet her at the airport with her husband and family. We went to Nasa space center and saw return of three astronauts coming down to earth by Soyuz. We were all joyful to witness Suni's safe return," he said.

Williams, who was commander of Expedition 33 on the International Space Station, returned to earth after 127 days in space with a new record under her belt - the most spacewalking time by a female at 50 hours and 40 minutes over seven career excursions.

She returned home with two space-going colleagues Aki Hoshide of Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule that landed in Kazakhstan yesterday.

Sunita logged 322 days during two space flights making her second on the list of most experienced US female astronauts. She also holds the record of longest spaceflight (195 days) for female space travellers. She spent 125 of their 127 days in space circling Earth onboard the ISS.

The trio blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 15.

While on the outpost, they welcomed SpaceX's Dragon capsule making its first official cargo delivery, which included fresh apples and chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream.

Nasa says the returning expedition conducted a range of scientific experiments, including testing radiation levels on the orbiting outpost, assessing effects of micro-gravity on the spinal cord and investigating melting glaciers, seasonal changes and human impacts on the ecosystem.